Snow had barely begun to fly on Tuesday when Middleboro School Superintendent Roseli S. Weiss canceled classes for the next day.

Weiss followed her counterparts in Brockton, Carver, Pembroke, Abington, Rockland, Whitman, Hanson and Plymouth when she made the decision and sent out a "robo-call" to all the parents of her 3,000 students.

In fact, schools in the region seem to be canceling earlier than ever, relying more and more on weather forecasts and the opinions of emergency officials.

Pat Riley, school committee chairwoman of the Bridgewater-Raynham School District, said her superintendent waited until later in the day to make the call that covers 5,500 students.

"We hate to take a chance and cancel school, knowing New England weather," Riley said.

On Tuesday, however, the forecast was "solid," Riley said, and officials were pretty sure before canceling school for today that the region was in for a blizzard.

Parents seem to appreciate the early-warning.

Donna Chane, a PTA member for the Mary K. Goode School in Middleboro who has three school-aged children, said, "An advanced warning gives me time to prepare for the next day, as opposed to waiting for the phone call in the morning and trying to prepare."

Middleboro Fire Chief Lance Benjamino, who is also the town's emergency management director, said, "It's beneficial to know in advance if the buses are going to be on the road, or if kids will be in the buildings, especially if we need to use one of the buildings as emergency shelter. Any advanced notice is helpful."

By 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Benjamino had designated the Council on Aging in Middleboro as a "warming center" for this morning.

Weiss said she formulates her decision to cancel with input from the National Weather Service, media reports and by consulting with the local police and Department of Public Works. If school hasn't been canceled, Weiss gathers information starting at 4 a.m. to decide by 5 a.m.

William Simpson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Taunton, advocates advance planning. He said advanced school closings are a good idea because the current storm will likely blanket the region with 6 to 10 inches of snow and deep drifts caused by high winds.

It's not always the case that schools are being canceled early. During the storm after Christmas vacation, Middleboro and Bridgewater-Raynham were in the minority and did not cancel.

Some had complained that school was in session, but Riley said parents should make their own decision when it comes to stormy weather.

"If a parent feels it's not safe (and school is in session), it will be an excused absence," Riley said.

Page 2 of 2 - Not so in Middleboro.

Weiss said if school is in session there will be no weather-related excused absences.

Both Weiss and Riley want to avoid closing school when it is not necessary. Already Middleboro has used its snow days, and the last day of school has been moved back from June 19 to June 24.

Riley said the Bridgewater-Raynham district has not used all five of its snow days and the last day of school is still tentatively scheduled for June 19.